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Article Excerpt
BASED ON HIS 29-YEAR RECORD OF ACHIEVEMENT at one of the industry's fastest growing service centers, his tireless volunteerism on behalf of the industry and his community, and his spotless reputation for honesty and integrity, Metal Center News has selected O'Neal Steel President and CEO Bill Jones as its 2005 Service Center Executive of the Year.
Each year MCN bestows this honor on an individual whose career and business strategies represent a model for the rest of the industry. O'Neal's accomplishments, under the guidance of Jones in concert with family members Craft O'Neal, Holman Head and others on the executive team, reflect the best in service center management today. As a talented leader and caretaker of the O'Neal family legacy, Jones has ably followed in the footsteps of past company presidents, including Kirkman O'Neal, Emmet O'Neal, Jack Blackwell, Jim Wall and Max DeJonge, maintaining the company's steady growth despite volatile market conditions. O'Neal Steel has earned a reputation as a strong competitor, a trustworthy trading partner and an active contributor to the industry and communities in which it operates--all traits personified by Bill Jones.
O'Neal's legacy
Much of what characterizes O'Neal Steel today can be traced back to its 84-year history of success. Founded by Kirkman O'Neal in 1921 as a small steel fabricating business, the company quickly gained a reputation for dependability and performance. Kirkman once said in a 1926 interview with The Birmingham News, "We turn out each piece of work and each contract the very best that can be done, and we are determined that it shall be satisfactory." That set the tone for the strong work ethic and business philosophy that O'Neal would become known for in the years ahead.
Throughout the Great Depression, O'Neal held firm by maintaining strong customer relationships. By 1935 it had become one of the South's first metal service centers, focusing on serving customers who did not meet the high-tonnage purchases required by the mills. During World War II, O'Neal became the nation's largest producer of general-purpose bombs, which were used extensively in the Pacific.
Emmet O'Neal, Kirkman's son and former chairman, joined the company in 1946. In 1952, O'Neal opened its first satellite district in Jackson, Miss. During the next half-century, through corporate planning and acquisitions, O'Neal expanded and diversified its operations throughout the South, Midwest, Southwest and Mountain states.
In 1984, Emmet's son Craft O'Neal joined the company, representing the third generation of family involvement in the business. He has held a variety of sales and management positions through the years, and assumed the title of chairman when his father passed away on Nov. 2, 2004, at age 82 (see sidebar on page 23).
Jones' career path
Bill Jones, 55, grew up in Birmingham and started a career in telecommunications with South Central Bell after earning a business degree at the University of Virginia. In the mid-1970s, with much uncertainty surrounding the breakup of AT&T's telephone monopoly, ]ones decided to seek opportunity elsewhere. He consulted an industrial psychologist, who analyzed his abilities and said he would be well suited for a career in "tangible sales." In fact, the psychologist recommended Jones to O'Neal Steel and helped him secure an interview.
Nearly 30 years later, he feels very fortunate. "Ninety percent of my career success has resulted from being in the right place at the right time," he says. "People often second guess things in their life--but I don't. I certainly haven't ever second guessed the decision to come here."
Jones' career at O'Neal began in inside sales, then moved to outside sales, in Tupelo, Miss. He then transferred as district manager to a new facility opened in Memphis, Tenn. Later, it was back to Birmingham to head up the company's marketing effort, then to a marketing and product development position, then vice president of the flagship facility in Birmingham, followed by a promotion to executive vice president, and finally president and CEO in September 2000. Next October, Jones will celebrate 30 years with the company.
He attributes much of his success to a leadership style that takes full advantage of the talents of others....
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